I can't believe I forgot to post this sooner.

[conuly]

Somebody whose hair blog I read recently donated her daughter's hair to Locks of Love, and then she posted an update with some concerns about Locks of Love that she wanted to address. She followed up by listing a few other "donate your hair" charities, all of which were about donating hair to make wigs.

If you don't really cut enough hair for that purpose, if you have pets you groom, if you maybe own a salon or barbershop and want someplace for your scraps, or if you just never were attracted to the wigs donating....

Don't forget that you can donate hair to make mats to clean up oil spills!

This does not mean that one cause is worthier than another or anything like that. I'm posting this just to get the information out there.

Comments

[sayga.livejournal.com]

What was the Locks of Love concern? I have a huge ponytail of hair to donate but I haven't sent it yet.

[conuly]

They sell some of the hair they receive, they don't just donate to cancer patients (frankly, I don't see how this is a problem, but some do), and I think there's some other things.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, it says that right on their website. If they can't use it, if it's too short, if they have too much hair, etc, they will sell as they see fit. I also don't see a problem with that. Hm, ok, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something else, something bigger (like your issues with Autism Speaks).

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Some people also object to Locks of Love because many of their hairpieces go to kids who "just" have alopecia, not cancer. They say they'll help anyone under 18 who has long-term hair loss, and alopecia is more likely to cause long-term hair loss. But a lot of people think of chemotherapy when they imagine sick kids losing their hair, and are upset when they realize they're actually helping kids who have lost their hair but don't seem sick in other ways.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

Another objection was that compared to some other charities (I think Pantene Great Lengths), they aren't as generous - making fewer wigs, and charging for the ones they do give out. They sell about 100 wigs a year, and Pantene apparently (http://www.squidoo.com/locksoflove) did 2000 in a year. According to most sites, LoL have to pay $1000 per wig (let's assume they get none of that back from the patient, but they do get some) and raise about $350k per year by selling unused hair. That should provide closer to 350 than 100 wigs.

[conuly]

No, they don't hit my evil-o-meter at all. However, as Jazzy said (dandelion, I must remember to call her that in my head!), they could do more than they do.

[xmorningxrosex.livejournal.com]

But wait!

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/05/14/4285875-hair-booms-piling-up-around-the-gulf-unused-and-ready

[conuly]

So do they not work, or is it that they potentially work but aren't being used...?